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Resolution 6
The Christian Doctrine of God
For the reasons set forth in Resolutions 2 and 3, there is need for the Church to renew and redirect its teaching office:
- by a fresh insistence upon the duty of thinking and learning as essential elements in the Christian life;
- by recalling the clergy to a fuller sense of their duty in the exercise of the teaching office. Of all their functions this is the one of the most important. It demands, especially in these days, prayer and study, both individual and corporate, on the self-revelation of God in Jesus Christ and the manifestations of his presence in the modern world;
- by the provision of similar opportunities for the laity;
- by a new emphasis upon the appeal to the mind as well as to the heart in the preaching of the word as an element in Christian worship; and
- by providing both for clergy and laity opportunities of retreats and other well-tried methods for the deepening of the spiritual life through the growth of fellowship with God and man.
We especially desire to impress upon the younger clergy that the Church requires the service of men who will devote themselves to the study of theology in all its branches. The Church needs learning, as well as spiritual power and practical ability, in its clergy.
